


What things meant

by lumenslorebox



Category: Paladins: Champions Of The Realm (Video Game)
Genre: (Mostly going in AO3 for safekeeping), (There's little Paladins lore here), Bounty Hunting, F/F, Gals being pals, Implied Sexual Content, OC Spinoff, Original character adventures, romance novel plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-31 02:50:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21055556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumenslorebox/pseuds/lumenslorebox
Summary: Mari is hunted for slighting the Thousand Hands, and nowadays she goes around ruining their operations in hopes it would clear her name. Usually this is a lone woman's job, but she unexpectedly pulls along Selene, a pirate trying to leave that life behind. Unfortunately, they had an interesting beginning, and it's making Mari confused on what certain things meant between them.[This is a story between two OC's adventures and may have little to do with canon lore.]





	What things meant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InconsistentUpdates](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InconsistentUpdates/gifts).

> You're probably gonna ask: why the fuck is this in here in AO3? Well, one answer, mostly: this shit took me forever to write. It's the longest one shot I've written in my life. Of course this is going here. Original characters? Doesn't matter. This is still semi-related to Paladins, so it's going here, lol! There's some canon lore, but they're semi-minimal. (Specifically Zhin's and Dredge's lore are relevant.) 
> 
> This was meant as a birthday gift for InconsistentUpdates, but I'm a slow writer. So this took forever. Advanced/Belated Happy Birthday....?? 
> 
> Hope it's readable, at least; have fun. :)

Mari tries to not read too much between the lines.

With traveling together, it’s hard to force yourself apart from your partner. The physical touch is inevitable -- oftentimes you have to share a bed to cut costs, take turns on the room shower rather casually, swap around shirts while you still haven’t gone out to do laundry or share meals together to save time and money. Mari had been accustomed to traveling alone, so most of the time she’s left to her own thoughts and having to do everything herself.

Well, she’s not traveling alone now, and she’s unsure how to deal with just….  _ everything. _

Firstly, the circumstances of their meeting is  _ insane.  _ Hilarious, even. She did not expect to end up in the arms of a stranger, making out, when she attended this holiday party. She was supposed to be doing bounty hunter things like talk to people or get information, but instead she had some drinks, was under the mistletoe for five minutes, and unintentionally having fun.

But then she got pulled away, and the party ends, with only the memory of the woman lingering. And the next day, she sees her name on a wanted poster for conspiring with the theft of the Warder’s relic, and for a second she didn’t feel like bounty hunting.

Well, Selene’s her partner now. Whatever that meant.

And getting accustomed to ending the day with her and sharing a bed with her is a process. It’s not like she hasn’t shared beds before -- as kids, she and her younger sister had shared a bed, and of course she had shared a bed with some past romantic partners. Sharing a bed with her new partner to save some money won’t be that much of a big deal, right?

_ The bed’s pretty big anyway, _ Mari thinks. _ It will be pretty easy to keep to our sides. _

She does her usual routine -- washing up, getting rid of any dirt and blood that may have clung to her skin, and washing her hair if she could. The dye runs on the drain like pink blood as she washes off her shampoo, and she sets aside a mental note to maybe get some new dye eventually. However, she decides to bring all her night clothes in the bathroom and change clothes there, slipping into her designated pajamas once she’s finished drying herself off. She doesn’t really know how Selene feels with nudity yet.

They were from a quick “hunt”, taking down a small drug ring in a nearby warehouse. While the operation was quick, it’s certainly not the cleanest. Some bullets landed on drug lord heads, and the thing explodes with such ferocity despite using ice bullets. She may be accustomed to grime, but blood takes a while to wash off. She was rather surprised with how Selene handles herself in combat too, and she admits she was a little distracted with the first part of the hunt as she watches her take down enemies with relative ease and brutality.

Mari walks out of the bathroom and neatly folds all her towels and old clothes by the dresser before tucking herself in the bed, and watches as Selene still busies herself with cleaning and fixing her hair, with such concentration and determination that Mari can see her do it for hours. The sound of the comb running through her hair is almost hypnotic, and Selene finally pats her handiwork done, setting her comb aside and making herself comfortable on the bed.

The  _ only  _ bed. A single bed.

Mari’s been in this situation for a few weeks, and she hasn’t really asked Selene if she wants a separate bed. But she’s been short on money, so she had no choice until she gets a new bounty in. Selene’s bounty is the biggest she’s seen in the board but she doesn’t have the heart to turn her in. 

“Sorry, this must be so new to you.”

Selene turns to her direction. “What-- oh. No, it’s fine.” She smiles, settling herself in the sheets. “This is already  _ way  _ better than my living conditions back there.”

Mari feels a little embarrassed, but she relents. “I mean, I couldn’t even afford another bed for you, so…”

“Trust me, this is a good compromise,  _ ma  _ _ chérie _ _ . _ ” The smile Selene shows is shining. “It’s okay if we share.”

Did she call her a cherry? Or is that a different language? Mari doesn’t mind either way, it sounded rather cute. She settles herself under the bedsheets, seeing as it is a tight fit.and scoots herself a little to the side so Selene has more space. In the past few days, she’s been getting accustomed to her, but it’s not that bad. Selene doesn’t seem to mind. 

It’s odd. It’s new.

But still, Mari felt at ease.

She speaks before she knows it. “You don’t seem that bothered about sleeping close with a stranger.”

“I think we know each other pretty good at this point, _ma chérie_,” Selene says, turning to her. “I won’t exclude the mistletoe… ” They both somehow instinctively adjusted themselves on the space of the bed. It didn’t really have much space, so Mari somehow ended up leaning against Selene’s arm. 

“Do you... do you want to do that again?” Mari says, smiling. “You know, without the mistletoe.”

Selene chuckles before she presses a kiss on Mari’s forehead, before she angles her chin upwards for a proper kiss. 

Mari tries not to read between the lines, but as she’s wrapped in Selene’s odd warmth, she thinks she could get used to this. 

  
  


~~~~~

Mari has finally caught up on her budget.

The feeling of having money and not having to depend on people’s kindness is a nice feeling to have. The bounties she had to take were smaller in scale, and taking on odd jobs was a bit awkward with Selene in tow, but she finally managed to save up to handle travelling and supplies on at least a good few months for both of them.

And Selene seems really excited, too. They’ve taken down a couple smaller Thousand Hands operations in some cities, but she seems roaring in delight at the thought of something bigger. She’s gonna be sorely disappointed when she finds out Mari’s saving this one just for herself, but bringing her along seems like the better idea just so Selene knows what the higher ups would be like -- dumb but manipulative bastards. 

She’s tried hard to spare Selene most of the details, mainly because it would be so hard to explain what really needed to be done. Mari finds it hard to put into words how much rage fills her when she thinks of the past, and a part of her tells her that its horridly easy to just skip him and wait until Selene is not with her.

But she promised to herself that the fucker has to die first for everything he’s done before she proceeds with everyone else. And most especially, their budget would even be bursting at the seams.

A wanted poster of him showed up. It was fresh on the wall, and Mari rips it off and takes a closer look just to make sure it’s him. 

_ Just in time, _ Mari thinks. 

“Who is this, really?” Selene tries to take a closer look at the poster, and Mari hands it to her.

“Thousand Hands’ executioner, a man named Han Eodun.” Mari says. “Big bounty for his death in the next town since he executed several important people and is involved in the torture of many others.”  _ Including mine,  _ Mari thinks, but she doesn’t add it. “He’s been criminal scum for the longest time, and it’s amazing that someone managed to put a bounty on him.”

“And a big amount too!” Selene exclaims. Sure enough, the amount offered for his demise -- dead in a ditch or alive in prison -- is only a few steps down Selene’s bounty. If they take him down, they’d be good for a year or two. 

_ It only makes it even more exciting to kill him.  _

“Because it wouldn’t be easy for most bounty hunters.” Mari knew this -- she’s heard of a lot of hunters dying or disappearing at the past times he had a bounty on his head. 

Selene waves the poster around. “He doesn’t look the type.” Sure enough, the man portrayed in the poster is accurate – a small, young man with pale skin and a haircut that draws attention to his dark eyes, and an outfit that is fitting for a teenager.

“Most criminals don’t look the type,” Mari says. “He’s been untouchable until now because of this. Hopefully we can nail him, and get the bounty before we continue up north.”

Mari easily knew where he was – Eodun doesn’t exactly hide where he is, because he is a dumbass who thinks he is guiltless and is separate from his job as the Thousand Hands’ executioner. Most especially, he never changes his address. It helps that he doesn’t really look the part. But Mari personally knew that Eodun can lift anyone twice his weight if he wants, and also has the power and the muscle of the whole guild behind him, and so she doesn’t plan on waiting around until he felt like throwing them off the window.

Selene seems excited, at least. “What’s the plan?”

Mari doesn’t even skip a beat. “We walk through the front door.”

“Wh-What?”

It’s not the most solid of plans, but if her memory serves him right, Eodun liked her, as dumb as that sounds. “Let’s just say that… I have an advantage of personally knowing him.” 

Sure enough, it’s as easy as walking in and saying her name, and she was ushered in like royalty along with Selene, which she said is her partner.  _ It’s easy to do, _ Mari thinks.  _ Gunshots are common to hear in a Thousand Hands place, it’s just the usual routine.  _

Mari and Selene were escorted in a workshop area, where she immediately assumes is a pottery studio, judging from the ceramics around them. There is a cleaner part of the workshop where there’s plush seats, and that’s where they’re motioned to sit and wait. 

The bodyguards leave, and Mari notices that they leave the workshop area entirely.

_ He’s so fucking dumb, _ Mari thinks.  _ If he touches me, I will break all of his fingers.  _

Later on, she hears the sound of a faucet turning on and off, and later on the sound of footsteps came closer, until a familiar man comes in, wiping his hands on a towel. He looks as pale as he used to be. He looked paler when he saw who came to visit. 

“Mari.” His voice is soft and surprised, and his creepy dark eyes haunt her dreams. 

Mari doesn’t even have to stand up before she shoots him on both feet. 

She doesn’t for a few moments, as she watches the man struggle to stand up again, but the spells take action and icicles stick him to where he is. 

She felt Selene try to take out her gun to finish him off, but Mari stops her.

_ It’s mine. His death will be in  _ ** _my _ ** _ hands. _

Eodun somehow looked paler than he usually is when Mari steps closer.. He tries to speak, but Mari doesn’t let her. “It’s... nice to see you, Mari.” Eodun somehow manages.

He is nervous. Scared, and about to piss his pants.  _ Good, _ Mari thinks.  _ He should be. _ Her foot stomps down on Eodun’s chest before she knew it, and she can see the man get his breath literally kicked out of him as she sits down and leans her weight on the foot on his chest.

It takes a few moments before he speaks again. “I... missed you.”

If it wasn’t for the tension around them, Mari would have laughed.  _ He truly is an idiot,  _ Mari thinks. “Fortunately, I didn’t miss being a guest to your torture room.”

He tries to muster up a smile. “What can I say, we had a good time. I really wish you stayed.”

“To get played at for longer?” She scoffs. “Read the room, dumbass.”

“I tried my best to be nice to you,” he says. Mari can feel him being more breathless by the minute beneath her feet as she further leans in her weight. “I thought that... if I tried harder, you would have just agreed to our terms, and you would have stayed and had a better life--”

Her hand flies down to his neck before she knew what she was doing, anger and months of pent-up desire to kill the bastard running down her veins. “I didn’t help entire city-states rebuild just so you can hurt me for months to destroy all of it again.” She tightens her grip, and she can feel him struggle, putting his wet hands on hers and trying to push her off. “With all you’ve done...The world is better off without the Thousand Hands. Everyone is better off without  _ you. _ ”

“What, and you decide that you’re better off with  _ her  _ than me?” Eodun is losing breath, but he manages to sound aggressive. “You just met her yesterday! I can help you. The Thousand Hands can make you more powerful. We can give you everything back--”

“Shut up.  _ Shut up!” _ Mari felt herself losing breath, but she feels nothing but anger. “You don’t get to boss me around!”

“I had no choice! What do you think Zhin will do to you if I spared you? What do you think he will do to  _ me?  _ Please do not take this personally--”

“It was your full intent to make me suffer,” Mari said, with so much venom in her voice it can kill anyone, “ _ so I’m choosing to take this personally.” _

She pulls away her hand, and takes off the bandages around her arms and the gloves on her, revealing the burn scars on her hands that she hasn’t seen in a while. It’s bizarre to see them after a while. But she has to see them if she wants to do this.

Eodun, who’s now short of breath, is still somehow spouting more idiocy. “I lov--”

“ _ No.” _

_ Whatever happens to Eodun after this, _ Mari thinks, as she grabs and shatters a vial of crystal in her hands before burning his neck with it,  _ he deserves it. _

The skin burning beneath her hand feels way more satisfying than it should be. Hearing and watching him suffer is cathartic.

The screams dwindles down, until there wasn’t really anything to be heard, and Mari stands up and takes her foot off of the now lifeless body beneath her. She turns around and comes face to face with Selene, who was still seated and watching her plainly.

Mari was silent for a few moments, somehow expecting Selene to say anything about it. But she doesn’t. At least not immediately. She glances at Eodun’s body.

“Do I…” Selene slowly stands up. “Do I still get a cut in the bounty?”

Mari almost laughs. “We’re not yet done. We still have to get him out. Let’s clear out first before we drag him out.”

The ex-pirate takes a closer look at Eodun before taking out her gun. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Let’s go.” Mari walks out of the house without another word, and planning to never talk about this ever again. As she turns around, she notices Selene doesn’t follow her immediately, but instead walks towards what’s left of Eodun.

Mari hears a gunshot before she hears Selene’s footsteps following her.

_ She... she was watching all this time. _

_ And she didn’t stop me? _

A heavy feeling settled in Mari’s chest. But she was done. The executioner is dead. She’s supposed to feel light. Satisfied. Hopeful.

Nothing comes.

~~~~~

  
  


“How’s your mothers?”

Going into Magistrate territory meant that Mari would be recognized. A lot. But passing by this city was necessary, and it was easy for the villagers to see the striking resemblance with her parents. This was her first shop as she went around to buy food and supplies, mostly because of the fact that she now have to worry about Selene’s side of things, but it seems for today Mari had to smile and laugh and answer politely before she gets her hands on the bread she paid for.

“They’re good! Last I checked they’ve gotten new jobs nearby, but she might have to return to the vanguard soon ‘cause of the war.”

“That’s what I heard...” the shop owner muses, packing the bread and an assortment of tools Mari bought. “That’s too bad. I’m glad to see you’re doing well though, I’m sure she’d be proud. Though I’m... why are you with  _ her _ ?”

Mari sees the shop owner trying their best to gesture to Selene casually, but the ex-pirate had noticed and just turns away awkwardly to look at the display of miscellaneous items against a shop wall. Mari notes that the ex-pirate is eyeing an assortment of compasses. “She’s with me,” Mari says without missing a beat. “She’s left her old job and stuff, and she’s helping me around.”

“That’s what my flour supplier said! He said Dredge’s first mate is now helpin’ around villages with you of all people! I couldn’t believe it!”

“You don’t have to worry about her,” Mari said, fishing for coins in her pocket. “I’m here to vouch for her. I’m sure the past villages we have visited would say the same.”

“Hearing that makes me feel way better. How about a cut of meat on the house? To thank both of you for all the help rebuilding.” The shop owner takes out a thinly wrapped pouch and immediately shoves it in the pack with the other supplies. “No offense to your mom, but the Magistrate hasn’t exactly tried helping us.”

_ Something for free?  _ Mari thinks.  _ I don’t know if I deserve that yet...  _ “Oh, you don’t have to...”

“Don’t feel so flattered, it’s a small cut. But it’s cured, and I’m thinking you two need a good meal.”

Despite her insistence, the bounty hunter was forced to accept the gift, just thinking to herself to just give it all to Selene when they’re preparing dinner later, to thank her for staying with her and so she gets some form of reward for helping around. After a few more moments of small talk, Mari parted ways with the shop owner, and didn’t hesitate to hold Selene’s hand to pull her along.

Mari had to ask. “Did you want a compass?”

Selene smiles sheepishly. “Oh, uh… it just... it just reminded me of my father.”

It’s Mari’s turn to smile. She doesn’t really know much about Selene’s family, and a part of her kind of wants to meet them. “We can get one if you want.”

“No, it’s okay! I know the money goes to the supplies first.”

“Selene,  _ we  _ took the bounty, so half of the money is yours. You can buy whatever you want.”

“And I used the money to buy our supplies--”

“Then I can buy it for you...?”

“ _ No, _ we need the money for something else.”

“Then next bounty.” Mari smiles, and squeezes Selene’s hand. “Next bounty, I’ll get it for you. How about that?”

Selene chuckles, and squeezes her hand back. “That makes me happy,  _ mon  _ _ ange _ .”

_ It feels really nice holding her hand,  _ Mari thinks. Selene hasn’t really complained at the several times she had taken the initiative to hold her, so she just pretends it’s a thing she does. And to be honest, she is thinking of ways to thank Selene for dealing with her routine. It probably wasn’t what she expected when she tagged along, but the ex-pirate seems to be warming up to the idea of helping around the community like she does and hunting around bounties on the side. Mari likes watching Selene go from being awkward with praise to taking it all in and being fun to be around.

It’s been a few months and Selene seems like a nicer person entirely now, and Mari just smiles at the thought. Sure, she had no excuse to keep renting one-bed rooms now, and they’ve been sleeping in separate beds recently, but Mari make do with just spending more time with her, and Selene has been rather receptive to her efforts to connect and at least be friends. Mari sometimes catches Selene staring at her, and she’s been talking more casually--

“Aren’t you Dredge’s first mate?”

A voice kicks Mari out of her thoughts. Selene is turned to a pair of scavengers seated by a bench, tools raised but somehow like they’re defending themselves.

“Not anymore.” Mari squeezed Selene’s hand tighter. “She’s with me.”

The scavengers ignored Mari, but their eyes widen in recognition. They’re still turned to Selene. “And how did you somehow manage to rope in the War Machine’s kid of all people?”

Selene looks more confused than anything else. “Um, what--”

“Isn’t her mom Tyra, that Sentinel deserter or something?”

“Sure looks like it! The braid looks the same!”

Mari pulls Selene away and walked at a faster pace, ignoring whatever guess games those scavengers were playing. The ex-pirate is gladly not asking any more questions as they continued shopping for supplies and to get herself a weapon maintenance kit, but Mari watched as Selene intently looks at more assortment of things, like chocolate, books, sailing equipment, and swords. 

At the very least, Mari sneakily buys Selene a chocolate dessert, and makes a mental note to surprise her with it later. 

The other items she’s eyeing… maybe later on. 

Once they were done with their supply run, they head towards the high-end part of the city, looking for a specific restaurant, and Selene looks utterly confused. “Why are we here?”

Mari tries to remember if it’s the right place, but then again, Valka would look for them either way. “My sister said she would wait for me here before she heads back at her work, so we need to hurry.”

It’s horridly easy to find Valka – she is literally the tallest person she knows. Way taller than Ash, who was already quite tall for a woman. Valka’s long jet black hair and her muscular frame stands out in the restaurant, and the weirdly formal suit she’s wearing is an odd attempt to fit in. As Mari walks closer, she could see that Valka is struggling to fit in the chair, and asked to get moved to a booth the second a waiter passed by their direction.

Once they’re seated comfortably, Selene sticks out her hand. “I’m Selene,” she says. “Selene Thulier.”

“Valka,” she says accepting the offered hand for a friendly shake. “I’m her younger sister. And I know you.”

“... you do?”

“I was in the party. If I wasn’t, you would have suffocated my sister.” There was an awkward silence before Valka fills in, still somehow shaking Selene’s hand. “And of course, I’ve seen your wanted posters right beside Mari’s recently, but you know.”

Selene laughs awkwardly, and was about to stand up her seat and find somewhere else to eat before she got stopped by Valka, who didn’t seem to mind having Selene along while they chat, which is good, because then it would be awkward to have her leave. And to be honest, Mari does trust Selene, and she’s okay with her knowing her family. And Valka seems okay with it, too.

Food arrived, and for a few minutes everyone was silent as they ate, but the silence was later on slowly filled by small talk about recent events. Valka talks about her new permanent job as a bodyguard and a doctor, and talks about her progress in her research about crystals in the human physiology. Mari talks about her recent missions, and the past few months and weeks with Selene. Valka offers money to help them out, but Mari refuses, and mentions the recent encounter with the Thousand Hands’ executioner and the bounty it brought in.

Valka doesn’t say anything for a while, but just nods. “Will you return home now?”

Mari shakes her head.

“Oh.”

Valka picks on her food for a solid minute, and Mari did nothing but busy herself with eating. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Selene taking a sip of her drink.

_ This is awkward.  _

Her sister breaks the silence. “Mom wants to ask how much crystal is safe to use in a cannon.”

_ What?  _

“Oh dear, is that for her cannon? That’s not safe, is it?”

“Well she wants to put crystal in her cannonballs now.” Valka’s face has ‘I’m so done dealing with her bullshit’ written all over it. “Who knows what sort of shit went in there while she was still in the Magistrate.”

Mari thinks about it for a minute. “Not a good idea with her cannons. My guns are more focused and my magic helps with controlling the spells, but they’re a bit unpredictable with cannons. Maybe we can test it out when I get back home?”

An amused chuckle came out of Valka. “Ash is impatient as hell, do you think she can wait?”

Mari could see Selene perk up, but she doesn’t say anything.

“Also, Mama made this for you, for good luck.” Valka hands her earrings, two small hoops for her ear piercings that are made of either bone or teeth – she knew Tyra was good at her craft and could polish bone to be so smooth to the touch that Mari could honestly not tell. As Valka hands her the tiny box with the earrings, she brandishes her piercings to Mari, discovering that Tyra made them to match.

“These are so good.” Mari inspects the earrings before putting them on. “Tyra had any hunts recently?”

Valka tries her best to remember. “A direwolf from last winter. She had to sell the coat and she said she’ll get you the coat and the head to match her cape when you come back.”

“Oh, that’s not needed, Mama’s always really into it, but I don’t think--”

“Wait.” Selene interjects. She looks nervous, but somehow... curious. “Tyra?”

Valka shoots her a puzzled look. “Yeah? What about her?”

“You just called her ‘mama’.”

Valka looks confused, like it’s obvious. “’Cause she’s our mother?”

Selene looks... freaked at this. “And the War Machine? Ash. You called her ‘mom’.”

Valka shoots Mari a quick confused glance, before looking back at Selene. “Uh... yeah. Also our mother. Didn’t Mari tell you?”

The emotions playing around in Selene’s face can only be described as confused and surprised, and it took a few moments for Mari to remember that Selene did mention about the whole Warder’s Relic situation, and being Dredge’s first mate by the time the crew slighted the resistance.

_ Oh.... yeah. _

_ Fuck. _

But that’s not the issue here, at least, not for now. Mari didn’t really think about telling Selene, because explaining the whole story takes a while.  _ Maybe I should have... _

“ _ Valka!”  _ Mari accidentally sounded more offended than she intended. “I haven’t exactly told her that!”

Valka’s voice sounds like she’s not surprised but is very disappointed.  _ “What.” _

“It isn’t necessary information--”

“They’re our  _ mothers,  _ Mari.”

“Yeah, which makes it harder to explain the whole story--”

“I think she has to know that since you’re dating!”

_ “We’re not dating!” _

Valka just  _ laughs,  _ enough to turn some heads around the restaurant to their direction. “With how much you were making out last time, I’m surprised you aren’t married at this point!”

Mari could feel her embarrassment, and Valka spent a few more minutes telling them that it’s tiring to watch them be affectionate, all while the table seems to rumble in her laughter and amusement. Selene doesn’t seem bothered, she’s mostly softly smiling to the whole situation before refocusing her eyes on her and somehow satisfyingly taking sips from her drink. 

Eventually, there’s an odd ring from Valka’s jacket, and she clicks on something. “That’s the boss. Have to go. We have an event later.” She calls for a waiter for the bill, which is easy to do since it’s hard to ignore someone whose head is poking out of the booth. “How about here again two months from now?” 

Mari agrees, and as the bill arrived she instinctively grabbed it, but Valka snatched it off her hands before she said anything. “We had a big bounty, I can--”

“Unlike you, I get paid every month,” Valka says plainly, not breaking eye contact as she slips the payment in. “You need that.” She doesn’t even wait for the change before standing up, and quite literally picking up Mari from her seat to hug her like a stuffed toy. Mari really needed that big and loving of a hug, and Valka seems to notice this, because she didn’t put her down until a minute later. 

“Okay, I really have to go. Take care okay?” Valka gently seats Mari back down her chair, and turns to Selene. “And you, Selene. Be nice to Mari, okay?”

Valka settles her hand on Selene’s shoulder with a surprisingly gentle pat, and Selene smiles. “I will,  _ mon amie _ .”

When Valka has left and the change came in, Selene scoots herself to where Valka was earlier, drink still in hand, and with an odd smile on her face. “So. The War Machine and the Untamed, huh? No wonder you’re quite amazing, but you know I’d have to know that, right?”

Mari couldn’t help but laugh. Yeah, she did plan on telling Selene, but she was thinking sometime else when they have an entire night free so she could answer every question.

“I would, but…” Mari pauses, trying to find an easy way to say it, but she sighs and gives up. “Well, it’s hard to explain…”

“I’m ready to listen.”

“Well, to start, we’re… not exactly… entirely human…”

~~~~~

Mari wakes up to shuffling, and then she hears heavy, labored breathing.

There’s a few moments where Mari has not really felt that she’s awake – just slightly more aware of what’s happening. Her eyes are still closed, but she hears Selene on the bed behind her, shuffling. Slowly, Mari hears audible, labored breathing, growing in intensity. It goes on for a while, and just from sound alone Mari could tell that Selene had a nightmare that probably won’t usher her back to sleep anytime soon.

She turns to face Selene. It’s a little hard to tell what is going on, which made Mari regret a little that they started sleeping in separate beds.. In the dark, she can make out the former pirate’s outline against the headboard, with her hair all messed up and her hands somewhere on her face, and doesn’t seem to have noticed Mari shuffling on the other side of the room. As she grows accustomed to the low light, she sees Selene hiding her face in her hands, choking back sobs.

Mari shifts to sit up, and this has alerted Selene, because she immediately takes her face out of her hands to turn to Mari.

“I – I’m sorry,  _ mon ange, _ ” was the response Mari hears. “Sorry I woke you up.”

Mari doesn’t say anything, but she reaches out to the lamp on the side table between their beds and twists the wick, shining soft light around the room. Even in the odd warm light of the room, she can easily make out the darkness under Selene’s eyes and fatigue written all over her.

If Mari remembers right, Selene has been having a bad string of nightmare-filled nights for the past few days, and even weeks. It’s hard to remember how often or how bad they were, because all Mari remembers is hearing shuffling and heavy panicked breathing, and then sleep whisks her back in before she had enough headspace to deal with it.

“No worries,” Mari says. She holds Selene’s hand for a few moments. For some reason, she’s a little colder than usual. Is she sick? Maybe lack of sleep is really having its effect on her?

Whatever it is, the bounty hunter feels like she should do something to comfort her, at the very least. “I’ll be right back.” Mari doesn’t even let Selene answer before she left the room on her way to the main kitchen of the inn, looking for mugs that aren’t meant for ale.

Mari remembered getting nightmares, and it was a rough few months of recovery back at home as she struggled to hide her presence and to recover from injuries. One of the few pleasant memories she remembers from the period was Valka trying to comfort her with warm drinks at night, just when the memories were too bad or when the wounds seemed like it hurts again. Even though she felt bad before everytime her sister hands her a mug of warm milk -- because honestly, why does she even deserve her kindness at that point – she still appreciated the presence of someone else.

Maybe that’s all Selene needs right now.

The innkeeper is awake, and Mari finds out that it’s an hour or so past midnight as she caught the innkeeper making preparations for the morning customers. The older woman did not ask questions when she asked if she had any milk she can warm up or any of the specific ingredients she needed for it. Mari quickly made two mugs of warm spiced milk with as much accuracy as she can muster from how she remembered it, before doing her very best to not spill anything as she runs back to the room.

Once she got in the room, she wordlessly hands Selene one of the mugs. For a moment, she was scared that Selene may not take it, but she eventually does, slowly bringing the drink closer to herself. Mari takes a few moments to go around the room and light another lamp before seating herself beside Selene right on her bed and leans against the headboard and pillows, just silently savoring the drink for a few moments.

She’s busy over her drink and only notices Selene watching her intently once she has looked up her mug. “Is… is something wrong?” Mari says softly, taking another sip of her drink. She watches as Selene also takes a sip, and smiles softly. 

“ _ This  _ is the reason why I wanted a separate bed,” Selene says. “It’s just nightmares. Nothing I can’t deal with...”

“Judging from the last few nights, I don’t think so.” She takes a sip, letting the drink warm her up, before continuing. “It’s my fault for not asking earlier... I have my fair share of nightmares, and they don’t feel... good… so I know how you’re feeling.”

Selene doesn’t respond, at least for a few minutes or so. Mari thought it’s fine if they just sit there and drink their milk, so that’s what she does, busying herself with her drink and savoring the moment. She later on feels a weight against her, and she realizes Selene is leaning against her shoulder. 

She doesn’t say anything, at least not for a few more minutes. But later on she looks up at Mari, watching. She later on speaks. 

“Thank you.” Selene’s eyes avert Mari’s gaze, focusing back on her half-empty mug. “I know I’m not the best partner, but I appreciate this. All of this.”

“Don’t mention it.” Mari instinctively smiles in response. “Do you need me to stay here with you or something? If you don’t want to sleep, that’s fine.”

“I don’t want to go back to sleep, but…” Selene straightens up. “You need to sleep too.”

“Uh, I can nap? Maybe?” The awkward laugh Mari makes is almost on reflex. “It’s technically already morning, and I’m a morning person, so I can’t shove myself back to sleep even if I tried.” 

“Do… do you have something planned?”

“Uh, most of the time I just keep myself busy when I wake myself up, so....” Mari thinks about it for a while, looking around the room, when she sees her weapons and the new weapon maintenance kit she bought. “You can watch me clean your gun if you want. It’s been a while, and we have a mission later. I don’t want it to fail on you last minute.”

“I’d love that,  _ ma  _ _ chérie _ .”

Mari stands up to get her supplies, but was stopped by Selene’s hand grabbing her wrist. A kiss greets her as she turns around to ask, soft against her lips but with several hundred meanings possibly behind it. 

Whatever they were, Selene’s voice was softer and warmer than the milk. “Thank you.”

Mari just smiles, and kisses her right back. “Anything for you, Selene.” 

  
  


~~~~~

  
  


She sees the gold embellishments wrapped around emerald, and Mari  _ panics. _

She knew most of the Thousand Hands personally, and not because of pleasant circumstances. She remembers the time they met, her consciousness struggling to focus on anything but the pain, and most of the members of the guild are etched into her brain like scratches against a cell wall.

Also, they are on a mission right now, and if the member sees her, they’re royally screwed, and it may either result to getting shot or getting kicked out. 

Mari taps Selene’s hand, and eventually she had to explain to Selene the situation. The former pirate took her hand as if to comfort her. “If we get caught by the Thousand Hands, we’re screwed,” Mari says. And Selene doesn’t even ask any more details, merely nodding, taking sight of the Thousand Hands member that’s only a few feet away...

That’s moving towards their direction.

“Oh, shit, what do we--”

The next few moments were a bit of a blur. Mari remembers hands pushing her against a wall. A hand pushes her to look straight forward. And she only sees a blur of Selene’s face before she felt lips against her own.

For a second, Mari freezes – it’s been a while since they kissed, mainly because they’ve been so busy with missions that Mari assumes that it’s now a thing reserved as an afterthought. But with Selene fueled with so much fervor and hands pulling her closer, there’s only a few things Mari could do to stop this, none of which she’s going to do right now. She wraps her gloved hand around Selene’s waist, choosing to just savor the moment, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss, feeling warmth blossoming in her.

She’s entirely forgotten about why they’re even kissing as she busies herself with Selene’s presence, hands somehow moving on their own as she pulls her in deeper. 

Just as quickly was she shoved against the wall did Selene part, but somehow she presses a softer kiss against her lips before actually pulling away. Mari tries to say something,  _ anything,  _ but Selene looks away, in the direction where the Thousand Hands member was supposed to be. Mari notes hands still cradled around her face and neck, but any attempt to point it out was lost on its way out. Instead she also looks for the Thousand Hands member. She sees no sign of them.

“They’re gone now.” Selene looks back at her, and Mari can honestly feel her own face warm up at the  _ look _ , but if Selene noticed it, she does not say anything. The odd, unnatural violet of her eyes seems like it’s twinkling against the light, and Selene’s hand somehow found its way back on Mari’s, and held it like a lifeline. 

“Yeah.” She chokes her words out, suddenly remembering how to talk, and manages to move away from where she was pressed against. “Thanks.”

Selene’s eyes seem to twinkle and smile like she did. “You’re welcome. Let’s get back to what we were doing, shall we?” Mari was immediately dragged along with her, presumably to move along with the mission which she had almost forgotten what they were doing. 

Spy around this Thousand Hands hangout spot, right. 

But trying to eavesdrop on people is difficult when all she wants to do right now is to go back to their inn room and tuck herself under the sheets with Selene--

_ I’m not really tired. _

_ But I’d just like to drown for now.  _

For now, she’s okay with just holding her hand. 

But Mari feels something change.

  
  


~~~~~

  
  


“Are you okay? Mari?”

Mari remembers passing out in pain midway through the operation, mainly because of the blinding pain that struck her, but her body has mostly done its job of healing the wounds. Still, it hurts like hell, and Mari struggles to stand up from the bed she only halfway realized she was lying on.

“Selene, I... what happened?” She remembers gunshots, and some other blur of events she couldn’t remember, and somehow ended up back in the inn. She’s still wearing her bloodied clothes, so she assumes it’s not that long since their operation.

“Well...” Selene turns away, trying to remember the events in the past few hours. “We managed to turn them in, but the rest of them in the hideout heard the gunshots and came in. We cleared the place out, but most of the staff were gone. Probably fled since no one’s paying them anymore.”

“Shame,” Mari says. “If they were still there, I’d give them a cut of the money we found.”

“But enough about them! What about you?” It was probably the pain, but Mari couldn’t really decipher Selene’s face. Is she concerned? Or frustrated? Probably both. “How are you feeling? Are you going to live? You worried me sick!”

“Yeah...” Mari puts her hand over the wound, which is now unsurprisingly closed, but still hurting somewhere deep inside. “I... I think my organs are still working--”

Selene grabs on Mari’s bloodied shirt collars and pulls her in for a kiss. She settles into the warmth as Selene didn’t seem to want to let go, but Mari clung to her like the kiss is giving her air to live. Mari feels like shit with the injuries she got, but this felt like a good enough compensation for it.

The ex-pirate later on pulls away, and for a moment she leans her forehead to Mari’s. She doesn’t speak for a while, but Selene looks at her pensively. “I just... I’m glad you’re okay.”

She’s… Mari can feel her heartbeat quicken. Selene is not making any effort to step away. Mari eventually feels the off weight and had to push her off of her, hoping she doesn’t see the warmth creeping on her face. “I’ll.... I’ll wash the shirt, sorry for ruining it--”

“Oh, it’s okay, you can have it. I think it looks good on you.” The smile Selene made melted Mari’s heart, and despite feeling several levels of shit, she honestly doesn’t care if she gets to feel fuzzy and warm over being cared for.

She remembered Selene getting shot, however. And she’s not suffering on a bed like she is. 

“How about you? Are you okay?”

Selene’s eyes widen. “Oh, I got some wounds, but I don’t feel them, so they’re not that bad--”

“Still...” she paws on Selene’s sides, trying to remember where she was shot. “You should have this looked at. Not feeling it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

“I’m fine,” Selene says. “They’re not as bad as yours.”

“I’ll live.” Her hands settle to surround Selene’s waist, as much as she could reach. “I just... I just want you to be alright, too.”

Mari’s heart sinks even further in the void at the thought of Selene being hurt. She’s seen her take fatal injuries and coming out of it fine, but something in her is always scared, always fearful that one day Selene would be shot and she doesn’t come out of it fine. 

_ Where would I be then?  _

_ Is it selfish to want you safe?  _

“I’ll get it looked at, sure.” Selene looks rather forlorn, but she manages to lift the corners of her lips at the very least. “But you’re the one who blocked all those bullets.”

“At this point, I’d willingly sink into the sea for you if it means you’ll be fine.” Mari says without much thought into it. “Get used to it.”

Selene may have been surprised by that, because she almost immediately  _ froze.  _ Mari panics for a few moments, thinking if she said something wrong, but then she laughs.

“Sure you would,  _ ma  _ _ chérie _ . Thank you.” She sounds rather awkward, but Mari is hopefully correct when she deduces Selene is trying to be grateful. She slowly moves away, and Mari withdraws her hand from her waist. “If you’ll… excuse me, I’ll get this looked at.” 

Selene walks away and leaves, presumably to get her own wounds checked, leaving Mari to her thoughts. 

_ What was I saying? Is that even true?  _ Mari stares at the ceiling, trying to make sense of it all. Over the months, Selene has been a lot of things: partner, friend… but there is something they don't usually talk about. 

It’s how close they are. 

Mari remembers the mistletoe vividly. It’s how they met, after all, and she partly blames it for her predicament now. Of course, they met by kissing under the mistletoe, surely intimacy and kissing is fair game even as friends, and Mari absolutely, truly,  _ hates  _ that now she couldn’t tell what everything means just because they found each other by making out under a mistletoe for five minutes. The sight of her makes her heart feels like it is about to burst, and yet she feels so much…  _ warmth _ . She wanted to drown in her sea, to be with her, to keep talking, having fun,  _ being with her.  _

_ But do I really want it?  _

Oftentimes Mari feels so lonely, watching her from so close of a distance. It feels so… odd, seeing her all the time, being with her all the time, and yet still feeling as if none of it matters, all because she doesn’t know what it all means. Is wanting to hold Selene’s hand just because she’s used to it? Is wanting to sleep in the same bed is because she wants to save money? Is Selene kissing her so casually because she wants something out of all this?

She wants to see meaning into all of Selene, all of the touches, the affection, the care. Mari badly,  _ really badly  _ wants for all of it to mean something. Anything.

Does Selene know? Does she feel similar, somehow? Does she feel her heart stop when she’s around? Does she feel warmer when they hold hands? Does she feel comfortable and safe when she’s in her arms? 

It’s so easy to say yes. It's so horribly easy to just say that there is meaning to all this familiar affection, but Mari couldn’t tell if it leads anywhere, or if there’s even a chance.

Mari looks at herself right now, wearing her bloodied shirt, being alive because of her, being determined to be good and wanting to see the good out of her and everyone just because Selene’s  _ there. _

_ How did I even do this without you? _

She turns to her side, ignoring the pin prickles of her wounds tormenting her, and thinks about how it would be like for them if they didn’t get dangled over the edge of life everyday; maybe she would have had a chance to think about everything. 

But for now, a few moments of rest would serve its purpose, and Mari merely concludes that she’s officially a loving, hurting, yearning fool. 

  
  


_ ~~~~~ _

  
  


“Wait.”

“What’s the matter?” Mari asks. The former pirate holds out her hand, stopping Mari from proceeding into the warehouse. The base is heavily guarded -- after all, it’s a warehouse filled to the brim with weapons made out of designs the Thousand Hands stole from her – and the weaponsmith can already see containers of the thing being hauled off to ship later on. Mari’s usual routine is just storming in and shooting whoever she sees. That would have been the case for tonight, but Selene seems to have different ideas.

“From the information we gathered earlier, I... I don’t think this is the best way to go.” She lowers her hand, motioning for Mari to retreat a little so they can plan their approach, and Mari doesn’t even question it as she steps back, listening to Selene go on. “We won’t be able to get to our target if we just storm in and announce ourselves.”

_ That’s how its always been, _ Mari wants to say. That’s how it is. She wins and while the way it hurts and she gets a couple bullet holes along the way, she mostly comes out alive, and her target pretty much dead. That’s all that mattered to her.

But in the same vein, she trusts Selene. Probably a little too early, and to be honest a very small part of her says it’s not a good idea. But something in her tells her that she should give whatever the former pirate had in mind a bit of a shot, since she has been such a good companion for the past week or so. After all, Mari has been with Selene for several hunts now, and the pirate is probably so sick of just charging in and getting hurt before nailing their target (though in Mari’s excuse, those last few ones really required brute force).

“What do you have in mind?”

“I... I was hoping we can go in and disguise ourselves a bit. Maybe a supplier of weapons or disguises or something. We know their specific contacts, it will be easy. Then when we personally deliver it to them, that’s our opportunity to attack.”

“But this is our only time,” Mari says. “We didn’t exactly plan this before we left the inn.” While a smart plan, they didn’t exactly discuss this before they came. If they don’t take the weapon trader down now, the supply will be everywhere and it’d be impossible to track every shipment down. She knew her own weapons, but she doesn’t know how the Thousand Hands distributes anything. Mari hasn’t studied them  _ that  _ well.

“Yeah, well... I can lend you my coat, like before, so we can look a bit like sailors. Look more like the part.” Selene makes motions directing to herself, and Mari takes the few moments to take her in – high-waist pants that makes her legs look way longer than they are already, a dark sailor’s coat, and a white somewhat ruffled blouse unbuttoned a few notches down, showing skin in parts Mari is sure she’s not supposed to be looking at.

Her first offhand thought is that Selene is going to have a hard time cleaning the blood off her blouse after this is all over.

Her second offhand thought is that she would still look good in it, anyway.

Mari is definitely not looking too hard.

“We can say we’re from one of their contacts, and that's our ticket in.” Selene kept going on. “We’ll just go back to the inn for a few minutes to get a coat then come back, it’s not like shipments will go out before midnight.”

She’s right, it won’t. Mari knows their target – she’s seen them before, and they’ve played a huge part in what she has suffered through. They’re also a really big perfectionist that followed through whatever perfect plan they came up with moments prior.

But knowing them personally in a way that is unpleasant to remember...

“Mari?”

“You’re right... let’s go.” She lets Selene drag her back into the inn, and feels a little warmth in her bloom at the thought of wearing her coat and looking quite like the former pirate.

~~~~~

Everything hurts.

She knew it was only her stomach that had been hit -- she saw the assailant right away and was able to redirect the damage to somewhere else less damaging -- but somehow, every single part of her body  _ ached.  _ She feels blood burn against her skin, she feels everything seemingly burning, she almost feels her entire life flashing before her eyes. 

_ Thousand Hands,  _ she thinks, the thought of  _ them  _ raging in her mind.  _ It’s their fault. They knew me, they knew I was coming, they knew my pain, they knew it and they made everything hurt more-- _

In the haze, she sees the fuzzy blonde blur of hair, and for a moment, Mari feels time slow as she tries to focus herself on the vibrant amethyst of her eyes instead of her torment. 

_ Selene. _

“ _ Mari, Mari, please please hold on, I’ll get us some help--”  _ The voice is thicker. An accent she couldn’t name. She hears crying. 

_ Selene-- _

Mari hears nothing but panicked French, and for a moment, everything is a mess of tears, the dull haze of pain, and the mixed sounds of panicked cries and sobs. She couldn't stop herself from crying, clutching the wound like life depended on it. She used to survive worse. But this one… this one burned like it never did before, feeling burning in her throat and every inch of her body. 

“Mari, don't worry, I’ll get us some help--”

“Selene.” She tries to call her attention. Her hands cling to Selene's coat. Bloody. Panicked. She tries to orient herself. "Please stay, please stay--"

“You're safe, okay?"

"I am," Mari repeats. "I am. I am with you.”

She hears Selene trying to call for help, and for a second Mari wants to say it now. Maybe she will hear it. Maybe she won't. But it felt too last minute to say and it is better said now that lost in silence forever.

But the burning is too much. Words are hard to form. Her clothes feel like they’re suffocating her, and Selene’s touch almost feels foreign and unwelcome. 

But she knew it wasn’t. 

It’s Selene. 

And for a moment, just for a few minutes, she wished she had some time to say it. 

“ _ Tu veux dire trop pour moi à perdre, je t'aime, s'il te plaît--” _

As Mari passes out, she thought she knew what it meant.

~~~~~

  
  


Mari remembers waking up beside Selene, a little closer than usual. 

_ Am I… dreaming? _

Mari’s wearing a plain shirt, and bandages all over her. She remembers a good amount of the time she woke up before this, though some specifics are lost in the painkillers.

She felt pain for a few moments. Her wound still bothered her.. Selene quickly moved, both relief and concern written all over her, telling her that she was out for a few days. She told her to lie back down, and Mari did.

Selene held her hand. Smiled. She was silent for a while. And Mari remembers saying something. She remembers saying how much she loved Selene, how scared she was of her safety. She admits she would be fine if Selene leaves, even if it will hurt her, because all she wants is for her to be happy. To be safe.

But Selene said she was happy. She said she loves her. Probably some in French. She could not understand but for some reason she can tell that she is loved. She always sounds like she's writing her poetry she didn't deserve, and Mari almost feels like her muse.

Mari says I love you. In common tongue. In the language she remembers her mother speaks.  _ Ég elska þig svo mikið, vinsamlegast farðu ekki. _ She remembers crying. Relieved that the words are out. Says it in Common for good measure.  _ I love you. _

Selene smiled. Looking as relieved as she is. She was crying too. They kissed. Once. Twice. Probably more times. She remember giggling. It did not feel like any other kiss they've shared. It did not feel like a kiss out of habit. It was even leagues away from the mistletoe one.

Mari wakes up, cuddled around Selene, now someone she can proudly call her partner, her girlfriend. But she needs to move, since her wound is pressed against the bed and making everything hurt. She groans, tries to prop herself up.

"You're going to reopen your wound,  _ ma  _ _ chérie _ _ ." _ Before she knew it, cold hands help her up to a more comfortable position. Mari looks to see Selene wide awake.

"You should really catch up on sleep, dear."

"With you out like that?" Selene seems quick to dismiss it. "How can I?"

Mari remembers Selene's stories, of the nightmares she gets. She supposes that they -- whoever it is that plagues her -- aren't the best sleeping companion. With Mari dangling on the brink of death, Selene may have just stopped trying.

"I don't know. I'm not exactly dead, so I thought my presence would have been fine."

Mari's warm hands find their way to Selene's, and for a while they stay silent, her cold hands wrapping around hers. For a few moments, Selene just held it close, bringing them to her cheek, looking Mari on the eyes with such an adoring smile that Mari could melt.

"Mari…"

She turns to Selene, with a little difficulty. "What is it?"

"I love you." Selene smiles, and her entire face brightens. "Just in case you forgot."

Despite whatever pain that remained, Mari somehow found the energy to laugh. "How would I?"

"I don't know. I just remembered that you were in some painkillers last time, so just in case it passed your mind."

“I’m pretty sure I won’t forget anything I hear you say.” Mari couldn’t wipe the dumb grin on her face, and she feels as if she’s just woken up from an ideal world where they have all the time for themselves. “And to be honest, even if I won’t remember it word-for-word, I think cuddling you is a pretty good reminder of it.”

Selene didn’t say anything, but it looks like her entire face is smiling. Mari doesn’t know French and so she doesn’t know, but she can hear Selene say soft musings against her, peppering kisses on her hands, showering her in love. For a moment, in this second, Mari thinks, she can live this for a while. She can remember this for a long time, and for a thousand years, and for whatever it takes, she seems fine staying like this, hands warm with love, and her heart filled with so much yearning and affection and  _ love. _

The bedroom door opens, and the large figure who walked through is unexpected.

“Valka?” Mari sat up, causing several other things to hurt, but Selene coaxed her to lean against some pillows. Her sister waited for a while and pored over her notes while they’re adjusting their position. “What are you doing here?”

“Selene definitely is the one who has the medical expertise to bring you back from the dead, all through the power of love,” Valka says, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She shakes her head, amused at her own joke. “Just kidding. Selene came to me in the middle of my work day and told me to come, so here I am. She said something about my research and my work and stuff like that, and said something happened with you, so I came as fast as I could.”

“Sorry about the trouble,” Mari says. “Is your boss okay with you leaving work?”

“She’s cool with it. And as long as you’re paying me, it’s no big deal. I have the same rates as the nearest privatized hospital,” Valka snarks, sitting on the nearest chair, and opening the journal she was carrying, somehow trying her best to look professional. “We’re sisters. And to be fair, you should thank Selene, I’d be arranging a funeral at this point if it wasn’t for her.” 

“I just remember your story months back, okay,” Selene says, who Mari has found to be seated on the bed but keeping a healthy distance from her. “And I don’t want my partner-in-crime to die.”

“Hah! She’d be fine,” Valka says, looking at her journal. “The bullets they used on you did slow down your healing a whole lot, but it’s not something I couldn’t fix.”

Mari wasn’t surprised; after all, those were  _ her  _ weapon designs they were dealing with. But bullets against her… “The Thousand Hands made bullets specifically against me?”

“Against  _ us,”  _ Valka corrects. “Surprisingly, you’re not the only crystal-born the Thousand Hands hate, but I’m not exactly the one ruining their operations like a kid destroying sandcastles.”

The bounty hunter knew she was a troublemaker, but Valka? “And what did  _ you  _ do?”

“Oh, nothing, just provide cheaper crystal technology to people,” Valka shrugs. “Totally didn’t ruin money-making opportunities for them.”

Valka proceeded to seat herself on the bed, and do a quick check-up on Mari. She often forgets that her sister is medically trained, and has a license to do all this, and she sits still and keeps quiet as Valka checks on her condition -- it’s mostly her checking her pulse, blood pressure, checking if wounds have reopened and checking a lot of other details. Valka tells her that her sickness flared up a bit because of the shot, but otherwise she should be getting better over the days. 

Eventually, Valka seems to consider Mari good for now, and she stands up. Instead of turning to her sister, she turns to Selene. 

“Can we talk?” 

Selene seems surprised by this. “Sure,  _ mon amie. _ ”

“Outside.” Valka pauses. Takes a look at Mari for a quick second before looking back at Selene. “Outside, if that’s okay.” Selene nods, and immediately follows Valka on her way outside. 

What.

_ Valka looked… calm when she left. Hopefully Selene isn’t going to get that kind of talk, _ Mari thinks. Mari feels like panicking about it, but the panic from almost dying was a lot, and she just doesn’t have the energy for that right now, and she settled for lying down the bed and counting the wood grain on the ceiling while waiting for them to return. 

Mari couldn’t help but smile, however. She thinks of Selene a lot. She thinks about all the weeks she hunted alone, and felt like she would have more fun with her. She realizes that she has a name to the feeling now, and that makes her heart feels like blooming, that when Selene comes through the door, she can hold her hand and she would know what message it tells her. 

It takes around twenty minutes before Selene returns, without Valka. 

“We got you dinner. And, well, we had a nice talk.” Selene’s smile is almost ear to ear, and Mari watches as she puts down the tray of food she was carrying. “Valka said she’s going to go back to her boss to ask about having a leave but after that she’s returning for the week.” 

“The week?” Mari pauses, before realizing what that implies. Valka is going to stay and is surely going to be tending to her for the week. She immediately panics, thinking about all the bounties she’s going to miss out on. “But we still have some bounties to claim! And she has work...” 

“Oh, no complaining, you almost died! Take a break!” Selene has an almost accusatory tone to her, but she can tell she’s just worried. After all, she did just save her from death. “Also, didn’t we just get two big bounties in a row? We’re going to be fine,  _ mon cœur.” _

“Okay, I won’t try to escape,” Mari said, slumping her shoulders and deciding that she should just rest up for now. “But you have to answer my questions.”

Selene sat on the bed, close enough for her to cradle her face with her hand absently. “Depends on what it is.”

“What is it you call me? The nicknames.” “I can tell from the tone they’re affectionate, but I only speak Common fluently.” 

“ _ Mon cœur.. _ .” Selene’s hand moves down and picks up Mari’s hand.

“Yes, that one.”

Selene kisses Mari’s hand quite softly. “My heart.” 

_ … She’s been calling me that for a while now _ , Mari thinks. “And the other one?”

Selene looks a little confused, which is justified, since Mari is pretty sure she uses a lot of endearments. “ _ Ma chérie? _ ”

It takes a while before Mari answers. “Yes.”

“My darling.” Selene smiles, and Mari feels her sigh against her hand before she presses another kiss. “It means ‘my darling.’”

_ She called me that the first few times we slept on the same bed.  _ Mari tries to remember the times Selene called her those. Maybe the tone is different, maybe Selene didn’t mean it that way before. As far as she knew, if anyone else was under that mistletoe, Selene may have been calling them those endearments too.

But Selene says it now, and Mari knew it’s different. Because now, she doesn’t have to guess what it meant, and that Selene isn’t teasing. She smiles as she felt the kisses on her hand. “Thank you. I won’t be leaving this week to do bounties now.” 

That probably wasn’t convincing, because Selene laughs, and somehow motions for Mari to move so she can lie down beside her. “Sure you would,  _ ma chérie.” _

_ I’m not leaving  _ you,  _ that’s for sure,  _ Mari thinks, as she feels Selene’s arms wrap around her, and letting the night pass talking about their respective endearments. 

  
  
  


~~~~~

  
  


The night felt cold but Mari is starting to like it.

Feeling Selene's bare skin against her fingers felt odd, but it had a strange warmth to it as she cuddles against her, hands finding whatever skin they could underneath her shirt. Selene, either uncaring or just complacent, lets her touch wherever she wants. The room was dark and oddly lit, but she can quite easily see the rise and fall of her as she breathes, and she feels her chest in every inhale and exhale.

She's sleeping good. That's good. It's one of the rare times that she does. Mari isn't sure if its the haze of pleasure or her fatigue, but she wishes she can stay right here, cuddled against Selene, being well-aware that both of them are sleeping easy and none of them are going to wake up because of a bad dream.

Mari could not help herself, having Selene so close. She presses a quick kiss on her lips, and settled right back in the crook of her neck. Selene shifts, and she feels her breathing change as she also adjusts her position. Mari looks up to see Selene's eyes finding hers.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, did I wake you up?"

"Yeah," Selene says bluntly, but she doesn't seem bothered, having nothing but a lazy smile. "I guess I'm as in-tune to you as you are to me."

"Yeah, you are." She smiles before coming closer again to press another kiss, sleepy yet more passionate, and she lingers before parting. "But you still need to sleep."

"How can I? You're here, my dear. We can stay awake all night and we can get to know each other a little better..." Selene's hands find its way under her shirt, and Mari laughs, but doesn’t make any effort to stop her. She’s still a little dazed from the experience, and to be honest, this still feels like a dream. 

The fact that it isn’t makes it really exciting, but that winded her down, and she’s not feeling like it tonight. Mari honestly wants to nap. Maybe in a day when she isn’t just recently shot, she would return the favor at the same night, but her injury still hurt somewhere deep inside. 

Selene has settled for just lazily cuddling against her chest, which she honestly found really cute. She’s humming some kind of tune, too. Mari slowly runs her hand on her bare back, feeling all sorts of fuzzies from being so close, feeling her breathing, and somehow knowing she will sleep okay…

Mari couldn’t stop herself from laughing a little in relief. “Go to sleep, dear,” she says, sighing against her. "I'll…. In the morning. I'll return the favor in the morning when you wake up.”

She eventually does so with much glee, the haze of the morning and the night before being a starter as Mari finds herself situated right at home between the warmth of Selene's legs. The rest of the day got postponed, lost in kisses and cuddles, but it's a preparation for what's to come.

In their few days of rest, Mari has had time to think.

  
  


~~~~~

  
  


She makes a gun.

Guns are second nature to her. She has been making guns ever since she was a child and probably not legally allowed to even  _ hold  _ one. Her mother has her gigantic cannon that she shows off a lot, and she remembers the starry-eyed feeling she got when her mother lobs a cannonball to a tree and started talking about ballistics.

At first, she just liked tinkering. She’s destroyed several things back at home just to put them back together again, the greatest mystery being how things works. The makeshift refrigeration, her mother’s guns and cannons, the doors. She liked -- no,  _ loved --  _ figuring out how things worked, so she can make her own thing and make things better. It’s how she got started with helping out communities, how she started being known for charity. She got curious how people worked, and eventually tried her best how to make them better. 

Mari has been watching Selene fight for ages, for months. She feels the same enthusiasm and excitement seeing her fight, and she wants to be a part of that excitement. A way to be a part of her life, in a sense. She’s watched her fight with her usual gun, a flintlock she might have taken with her from her time with piracy, and to be honest, she sees nothing wrong with how she fights, and she can spend a long time watching her fight, knowing that Selene’s got her back. 

There’s nothing wrong with how she fights. But to be honest, she has done her job. Selene is a good person. Selene isn’t entirely out of the shackles of her past, but Mari wants to help all the way. Selene is a good person, and she believed in her goodness, falling in love with her felt like a nice bonus. Mari makes her a gun, because while it may not help her become a better person than she is entirely, it does give her some relief. That she’s with her. That they’re together. 

Mari took great care when making the sights of the gun. A metal ring that serves as the gun’s sights is kept secured on the gun by a crystal screw, and she can take out the metal ring any time she wants and flip the screw back on the metal, making a wearable ring with a crystal piece that would definitely look good on Selene’s finger.

Well… it's not like Mari will tell her about that part.

“This might be a little unnecessary for you… but, well, I have something.” Mari shows her the gun she has made. “For you.”

It’s a revolver, much like the ones she uses, and almost just as big as the flintlock Selene is using. She takes it gingerly in her hands and seems to take her time observing the little details she have put. The crystalline parts that she used to secure the barrel and the sights. The intricate details that looks too intricate to be on a gun, like the crystal screws and the violet and gold detailing. 

“Well, I noticed your flint broke down last time, so I supposed I should make you a new one so you have… well, a backup.” Mari tries explaining why she made it, but she’s honestly praying that Selene uses it often enough. At least once. She realized she never bothered to ask if her girlfriend even uses revolvers. 

“You made this for me?” Selene is still inspecting the gun, and it’s obvious she’s quite enamored with it. “It’s beautiful…”

“Yeah, it’s…” Mari smiles sheepishly. This felt like presenting her work to a client, except it’s her girlfriend. “I want to go on a mission with you where I’m sure… we’re both safe, in a sense.” 

“Thank you,  _ mon trésor _ .” Selene comes closer for a kiss, and Mari doesn’t even hesitate to wrap her hands around her girlfriend to receive it, feeling the corners of Selene’s lip lift up to a smile. She parts a little too fast for Mari’s liking, but they kiss a lot more now, so there’s lots of time to catch up. 

A part of her also wants to ask what the new endearment meant, but Mari feels like she doesn’t have to guess, and Selene’s kiss feels like enough of a descriptor. She gives her another one for good measure. “How about our return to bounty hunting next week?” Mari smiles, hopeful and somehow expectant. “We have a guild to take down.”

“I couldn’t wait to return with you.” Selene is already preparing her things, and Mari notes Selene puts the new gun where her flintlock is supposed to go on her belt. 

The sights and the ring would have to wait for a while. At least, until Mari is sure that it’s the right time.

But for now, the future awaits, and she couldn’t wait to return to their adventure. 

**Author's Note:**

> Credits/Disclaimer:  
Mari and Valka Freyja/Skaale are my Ash/Tyra ship children OCs. Han Eodun is also my OC.  
Selene Andrea Thulier is InconsistentUpdates's OC.  
As this is an OC story, I am not claiming any Paladins canon character mentioned as mine.


End file.
